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A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to experience one of the best days of my life. Nothing compared to getting married or having my kids of course, but it was certainly up high on my list. I got to spend a day cooking with a professional chef. My cousin Samantha finally married her awesome man Brian. Sam’s sister, my cousin, Megan is married to a great guy who has been a chef for about 10 years. Jeremy and I have always bonded over cooking.

I love cooking- it fits right in with my general love of making things- and I feel like I can say that over the years I have gotten pretty good at it. I am a firm believer in the notion that you can never know enough and the moment you decide that you have nothing more to learn, is the moment that your ego has gotten too big for its britches and needs a good spanking. But I digress…

Jeremy has proven over and over to be great at what he does and his attitude in the kitchen was fantastic. He treated me like I was fully competent to handle whatever issues that needed to be tended to. With gentle guidance, he saw to it that I had a hand in almost every one of the 11 dishes we put out. When he presented me with a chef’s coat at the start of the day I felt like a little girl on Christmas morning! I did in fact, keep it on all day- even after I changed into my party dress! It was such a great day. I can’t wait to find an excuse to do it again.

And for your viewing pleasure, some mustache pics…

Hayla and beautiful Iris

Coy

xo

August 13th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

So the blog has taken a back burner in my life.

In the past year we have dealt with…A huge move; I am convinced that it was the biggest in the history of the world! A major remodel of the old house. It was at least 5 months of work that we pulled off in about 4 weeks. General dealing with raising three kids under the age of 10. The death of our beloved Great Dane, Peter Peter Pumpkineater. And I am sure I could go on, but I won’t.

Another problem with the blogging is that I refuse to post a blog without a photo or two and I can not for the life of me figure out how to re-size the pictures I have taken of all the crafting I have done over the past year. Kelli, who has been kicking my ass at blogging, even downloaded some program onto my laptop that does it and I still cant figure it out. If I were to be honest, I haven’t given it much of a try because of the overwhelmingly pressing nature of everything else going on in my life. But in a fit of nervous energy the other day I made a big list of things that I want to be doing and blogging was near the top so I guess I need to figure it out!

I have done a number of projects since I last posted, including:

• refine my needle felting skills on many a cute hair pretty (I even sold some!)
• make an elaborate Queen of Hearts costume for my best friends Halloween costume wedding
• make a quilt top for my daughter
• super cute dollies for my nieces (can be found at Turtle Weenies)
• gifted a number of hand made (by me and the hubster), plasma cut wall hangings to my family members
• and undoubtedly many more things that I have since forgotten.

Now, let me see if I can’t get some pictures onto this post….

I was very sick with the Swine Flue this day

I actually sold these (pictured clipped to the wall art I made)

Me in the old shop blissfully using the plasma cutter. I get goosebumps just looking at it.

I gave these hair clips to my nieces for xmas with their dollies.

I got the pattern for these ones from one of my favorite blogs, Inside a Black Apple (I will try to figure out how to link to her)

OH! I made the best blanket ever for my 10 year old this winter! I decided I needed to use up my stash of gifted yarn balls that I had been accumulating over the years so I settled on a patch quilt. It did not take long for me to realize that I didn’t have the patience for that! It takes way too much time and energy to make a whole bunch of squares, all the same size out of a whole bunch of different kinds of yarn! So I had the genius idea of crocheting a series of scarves and hooking them together when I was done. That way I could use all kinds of different yarns and as long as I made them the same length it would work out. And I came up with one of the best blankets I have ever made. I tried to keep it for myself because I liked it so much, but he wasn’t having any of that! I will take a picture at some point and post it. And now, I can buy as much new yarn as I want!

xo for now,

H

June 15th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (1)

We bought a fancy new Cannon Rebel Xsi last week because I was complaining about our other little cheapo number being such a pain to use. Its pretty fun to use because you have to (or, can) look through the view finder! Like back in the olden days! I am just figuring out that I need to figure out how to adjust it properly so that I can fit the pictures into my posts!

Here is a little clutch I gave  my sister-in-law for her birthday. I made the pin out of felt and found the bag at Pacific Fabrics super cheap. I plan on learning how to make felted bags eventually but this one was just perfect for an easy gift.  I think that needle felting might just be my little niche. I have been on the hunt for the elusive “thing” that sucks me in and satisfies the creative urge and can start making me some money.

Wow, I really need to blog more. I have almost forgotten how it works!

xo,

Hayla

May 11th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The reason I haven’t posted in such a long time is that I think every blog post should have a picture wish it and my camera has been on the fritz. Sort of. The hubster deleted a series of pics that I took of some Easter bunny party favors that I made, the uber special batteries that our camera needs seem to be always discharged when I go to take a picture. And, do you know how hard it is to try to write a coherent blog with a baby crawling all over your lap and laptop?

So many things have happened in the past few months, the most significant one being the death of my Aunt. She was a lifelong seamstress and quilter. I inherited a significant portion of her stash and have spent the past several weeks sorting and re sorting and organizing it. I got a bunch of fabric, a few unfinished projects which I will blog about later, some embroidery stuff and a couple of quilting books. I had to head back to Ikea and get a few more shelves and storagey devices to manage the stash. It has been pretty emotionally trying going through my aunts stash, touching fabric she once touched and presumably loved enough to buy.  I have been trying to find a way to use the fabric in my own way to honor her and the spirit in which she collected it. Which brings me to my yo~yo mania. One of the great things I found was an enormous stack of 5 inch squares; like a 12 inch stack of them. So I decided to make them into a yo~yo quilt! It takes me about 5 minutes per yo~yo with the little jig I got at my favorite new craft supply store. I am a couple hundred yo~yo’s in and still plugging away. I figure it will take me a few more weeks to finish them and then I can start the fun piecing them together!

till next time~ I promise it wont be as long!

Hayla

April 29th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (1)

Everyone who knows me knows that I love to collect all the tools and supplies needed to do pretty much every craft. I have an enormous metal shop, fully equipped to make anything you could desire, a complete set up to enamel, a sewing room, wood carving tools, paints, tons of yarn for crochet, stashed fabric galore, all the baubles and sparkly trinkets one could want. I have gathered it over the years in the relentless search to find my medium. It is possible that I will never settle on any one thing, but I am sure having fun in the process.

Last weekend I went to the Sewing and Stitchery Expo in Puyallyp with my mother in law and her sister. I really wanted Kelli to come but the jerk is too busy sunning herself in Cabo- sans kids- all week! Next year though Kelli! Anyway, there were some pretty awesome vendors there sprinkled amongst some TRAGIC quilted t-shirt ladies and weird bedazzled headgear. There were really great deals on sewing machines so the next time I think I am ready for an upgrade I will be sure to hit that place. I was on the look out for wool felt for my softie projects because as far as I can tell, there is none to be found in Tacoma. I only found one place that had it but I found a bunch of needle felting kits instead. Nice bags of pretty hand dyed roving with needles and instructions for little projects. My favorite was Longbranch Fiber Farm. Elsa Leyden (shoutout!) was so sweet it made me sad that I spent money on roving somewhere else. I picked up a nice grab bag of mixed colors from her and a couple of tips to get me going.

Upon arriving home I figured out that we were no longer in possession of any blocks of high density fiber foam which is a must have for needle felting. Geez those needles are sharp! I have a deep but perfectly clean stab wound in my finger. A trip to JoAnne’s later and I am in possession of a nice square of foam and a cute little book called Wool Pets which has 20 nice easy projects and techniques. Here is my first project.

Isn’t she cute?!

I made the kids little bee’s, which I would show you if the daughter hadn’t lost them. When her teacher saw them she asked me to make some for the school’s annual auction. So I am excited about that!

Needle felting is everything I like. It is sculpture, instant gratification and so colorful! I also like it that it lends itself really easily to both girlie things and boy-centric things.

Oops, baby calls!

xo

Hayla

March 4th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (2)

I came home after picking the kids up from school yesterday to find a package sitting inside the door with my name on it. I didn’t remember ordering anything and it isnt my birthday so I have to admit I was a little nervous. So I opened it and out popped this stuff! A handmade little pillow, two crochet boxes, the book softies, a nice little fat quarter of mustache print fabric!, and a really sweet little card from my sister in law Kelli. What a wonderful way to cap off the day! It is really great to get a gift for no reason at all. I cant wait to get her back!

In other news, I am on a pillow kick right now. I got some really pretty cherry blossom fabric one time when Kelli and I went craft store shopping trips before Christmas last year. After making those pillows for my mother in law I was inspired to make some more. So I took that fabric and cut it all up and made it into a giant ribbon! I am going to make a round pillow with a huge swirl of ribbon on the front. Kind of like this…

Totally excited about it.

xo!

Hayla

January 27th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (1)

Has it been a crazy December. With the unusual mega snowfall and the weird way we ended up juggling both the families this year it has been a really hectic season. Plus we have been doing a ton of work on remodeling our house, which, of course, isn’t anywhere near over.

I made some really cute pillows for my mother in law and her sister this year. I made a pillowcase to fit around a form I got at Joanne’s (expensive!!) with a some fabric from the shiny new bolt I bought (my very first!). Then I took a couple of old handkerchiefs that had belonged to their mother who passed away a few years ago and sewed them on. I added trim to one and left the other plain because it had a cute squiggly edge already. They went over really well and I have several ideas for more pillows. Unfortunately I cant find the pictures I took of them for some reason. I will add them to this post if I do. HA! Found them!

I also got a sweet new Google phone the other day so I am looking forward to taking pictures and posting here from the road! More pics!

xo

Hayla

December 29th, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (1)

It only snows a couple of times a year here, and usually not much, but this year we are having a serious storm. Holiday parties have been cancelled left and right, last minute gift buying has been delayed, coco has been consumed in large quantities. We are snowed into the driveway at the moment. Yesterday I couldn’t even get the car doors to open. It was so icy that when we went on our family adventure down to the school field, we couldn’t even begin to get a snowman going. I tried to make a snow angel and had to crush the ice to make a mark. It was about the saddest snow angel you ever saw. Camera was out of batteries so I didn’t get any pictures yesterday.

Today Q made some snow birds. Santa

I am still practicing taking better pictures.

happy holidays

xo

Hayla

December 22nd, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Frenchie and the Fez

won a contest for this one

December 16th, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment